The High Five Episode 48 – Brian Michael Bendis At DC Part 2 – Wonder Comics

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On this week’s episode, I’m digging back into the comics Brian Michael Bendis had a hand in creating after moving from Marvel to DC a few years back. Expanding on Episode 41, this time I’m focusing on just the Wonder Comics imprint that he started which featured his own work as well as that of others like Mark Russell, Stephen Byrne, Amy Reeder, Joe Quinones, Sam Humphries and others on books like Young Justice, Wonder Twins, Amethyst, Jinny Hex Special and Dial H For Hero.

If you’re curious about the times I interviewed Amy Reeder, you can read the CBR Halloween Eve and Rocket Girl stories.

As always, you can email me at high5tj at gmail.com or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. Also feel free to subscribe to my YouTube Channel!

Halloween Scene: Superman Vs. Predator (2000)

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A few years back, I wrote for the Blumhouse website. It had been a while since I’d actually been paid to write about horror. I’d snuck as much of the genre into ToyFare when I had that kind of sway and done a few things for CBR before it turned into a soulless machine, but that was a minute ago, as the kids say. So, writing for Blumouse — which covered the whole genre, not just the films of that particular company — was a lot of fun. I did a piece on cool Predator merch and another on great Alien comics to check out.

I was even in the process of pitching a story about great horror-super hero crossovers when the whole site went sideways. Around then, I bought DC Comics/Dark Horse Comics: Justice League Volume 1. This was part of a series of books DC and DH were putting out at the time collecting their various crossovers over the years. Now, I’m going through them for the spooky season!

Continue reading Halloween Scene: Superman Vs. Predator (2000)

Halloween Scene: Astro City Confession

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When I first began kicking around ideas for Halloween-y books to pull off my shelves and read this season, Astro City: Confession popped into my mind almost instantly. However, when I went to said shelf, I was surprised to see that this was one of two volumes from the series’ early run that I didn’t have. To Amazon I went and now I’ve got a nice hardcover version from DC’s sadly defunct Vertigo imprint. I’m not sure it’s possible to really talk about this book without getting into spoilers, so consider yourself warned and go out and read all of the Astro City you can find!

Continue reading Halloween Scene: Astro City Confession

Riding With The King: Dreamcatcher (2001)

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How do you go through a particular artist’s work when you want to absorb it all? I take a variety of paths, sometimes trying to go through the efforts chronologically, other times by theme or subject. With Stephen King’s books, I’m a bit more willy nilly! I’ve read a good number so far and have purchased even more, so I often find myself staring into my horror To-Read box wondering which King to tackle next. Though I still have his latest, If It Bleeds, to devour, I decided to dip into the box and chose 2001’s Dreamcatcher for two reasons: one, it’s long and two, I heard it wasn’t very good. Luckily, I was wrong about one of those things!

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It’s All Connected: The Fury (1978)

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I was pretty excited when I realized that my previous It’s All Connected 2020 selection, Phantom Of The Paradise,  was directed by Brian De Palma. As I mentioned in that post, I’ve seen a few of his movies, but none of his horror pictures, aside from Carrie. As it happened, I was able to find many of his films from the 70s and 80s streaming, so I went through parts of his filmography in chronological order for a bit, moving into 1978’s The Fury after Paradise.

Continue reading It’s All Connected: The Fury (1978)

It’s All Connected: TerrorVision (1986)

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Having watched Night Of The Comet, I found myself wondering what to watch next for It’s All Connected 2020. Unlike with everything else going back to Return Of Swamp Thing, I didn’t have an instant path I wanted to follow. And then I started going through the excellent Mary Woronov’s filmography and a somewhat new old favorite jumped out at me: TerrorVision!

Continue reading It’s All Connected: TerrorVision (1986)

Halloween Scene Book Report: Stage Fright (1988)

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Immediately after finding my way to the excellent Valancourt Books while reading Paperbacks From Hell, I became enamored with the publisher and their PFH label. I’d missed the first ten entries (though I’m going back and picking them up as I make my way through the series), but I didn’t want to miss out on future installments, so I jumped at the chance to pre-order the next one they announced: the 1988 horror-sci-fi-action-thriller Stage Fright by Garrett Boattman. I mean, just look at that cover!

Continue reading Halloween Scene Book Report: Stage Fright (1988)

It’s All Connected: Chopping Mall (1986)

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After liking Jim Wynorski’s The Return Of Swamp Thing, one film jumped out to me in his filmography: Chopping Mall! It is befuddling to me that I have yet to write about this film on here, though Mr. Dastardly and I did cover it on our short-lived double feature podcast. It’s an easy favorite from this era that I discovered well after the fact. I’m not sure how hard it is to get your hands on the Lionsgate Vestron Blu-ray, but I recommend it!

Continue reading It’s All Connected: Chopping Mall (1986)

Trade Pile: Black Canary, 3 Geeks & Harlan Ellison

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It’s been way too long since I wrote about comics here on the site, so let’s jump back in. Between library borrows, my existing To-Read boxes (roughly two long boxes at current count) and the recent discovery of a store that sells super cheap trades, I’ve got a lot to read. Let’s get into it!

Continue reading Trade Pile: Black Canary, 3 Geeks & Harlan Ellison

Halloween Scene: Animal Man Vol 5 & Red Thorn!

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My journey this fall through the weird worlds of Vertigo  has taken me to some strange corners of the comics world and I couldn’t be happier about it. This time around I tackled another volume in the proto-Vertigo post-Grant Morrison Animal Man saga and also made my way through a series based on Scottish mythology that was fun and bloody.

Continue reading Halloween Scene: Animal Man Vol 5 & Red Thorn!